Elon Musk’s Mars plans crash as high winds knock over prototype

Elon Musk’s Mars plans crash to Earth as high winds blow over part of his 120-foot-tall Starship rocket prototype

  • Prototype, known as a ‘hopper’, was set to be used to test propulsion systems 
  • Images from the Texas spaceport where it was being built revealed strong winds knocked off the top half of the rocket, crushing it as it hit the ground
  • Musk says the damage will take ‘weeks’ to repair 
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It certainly wasn’t a rocket you’d want to go to space in, but Elon Musk’s Mars ‘Starship’ prototype has been revealed as far more fragile than thought – after high winds knocked part of it over. 

The prototype, known as a ‘hopper’, was set to be used to test the propulsion systems in the rocket before a full scale prototype was built.

However, images from the Texas spaceport where it was being built have revealed strong winds knocked over the top half of the rocket, crushing it as it hit the ground.  

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The crushed nosecone of the Starship ‘hopper’ prototype in a picture posted to Twitter 

WHAT IS THE ‘HOPPER’ PROTOTYPE? 

The prototype, known as a ‘hopper’, is set to be used to test the propulsion systems in the rocket before a full scale prototype was built.

It will be used for suborbital vertical takeoff and landing test flights, reaching around 16,400 feet, known as hops.

SpaceX used a similar hopper to develop its Falcon rockets. 

The upper section of the rocket was already detached from the booster when it blew it over, it is believed.

However, Musk claims the damage is easy to repair – as the nosecone was simply a hollow structure welded together to give the test craft the appearance of a real rocket.

‘I just heard. 50 mph winds broke the mooring blocks late last night & fairing was blown over. Will take a few weeks to repair,’ Musk said in a tweet. 

‘Actual tanks are fine,’ he later added. 

One space enthusiast who saw the damage wrote on a YouTube video showing the damage: ‘Starship upper fairing was completely destroyed in an overnight windstorm at SpaceX South Texas launch site at Boca Chica. 

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‘Winds gusting in excess of 50mph toppled the nose cone, crushing it upon impact.

‘The lower portion including fuel tanks were undamaged. 

‘The nose cone fairing contained no critical components and should be re-constructed quickly, little if any delay in launch tests are expected.’ 

Last month Elon Musk revealed images of the 120-foot tall Starship hopper test rocket prototype.

The maverick billionaire entrepreneur unveiled his retro-styled spacecraft which has drawn comparisons to sci-fi films of yesteryear. 


‘I just heard. 50 mph winds broke the mooring blocks late last night & fairing was blown over. Will take a few weeks to repair,’ Musk said in a tweet.

Twitter users pointed out the similarities of Musk’s creation with the contraption Tintin used in the 1954 adventure ‘Explorers on the Moon’. 

Others said the sleek design and prominent fins closely resemble spaceships depicted in 1950s/60s films, Wallace and Gromit and even Toy Story.  

SpaceX founder Musk shared the first real images of the prototype from its Texas launch site and reassured his followers it is ‘not a rendering’.  


The SpaceX prototype Starship hopper stands at the Boca Chica Beach site in Texas on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, seen from Texas Highway 4.




Twitter users pointed out the similarities of Musk’s creation with the contraption Tintin used in the 1954 adventure ‘Explorers on the Moon’ (pictured)

‘This is for suborbital VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) tests,’ Mr Musk explained. 

‘Orbital version is taller, has thicker skins (won’t wrinkle) & a smoothly curving nose section.’ 

This particular model will be used to test short launches and landings.    


The undamaged nosecone on Jan 2nd at the Boca Chica Beach site, near Brownsville, Texas

Earlier this month, the billionaire said SpaceX was aiming to carry out test flights within four weeks, but admitted it could be as long as eight weeks when unforeseen issues are factored in. 

Responding to questions from space enthusiasts, Mr Musk said that the first orbital prototype should be ready by June. 

The SpaceX founder also added that the real, finished version would ‘[obviously]  have windows, etc.’

Musk also later retweeted this video filmed by a passer by showing the prototype rocket


Elon Musk has revealed images of his fully-assembled 120-foot tall Starship hopper test rocket (pictured)

This work is taking place at both SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and the company’s test site in South Texas, near the border city of Brownsville, where the first flights will take place.

After its unveiling on social media the tech tycoon’s Starship drew immediate comparisons to fictional rockets. 

One user, known as John Drury, pointed out the similarities to the Toy Story rocket which is hope to ‘the claw’ and, briefly, Buzz and Woody. 

He tweeted: ‘Lol wow. Reminds me of the rocket ship in Toy Story’ 

One twitter user also said: ‘I love SpaceX and their people are amazing but it does look like a Wallace and Gromit rocket but I’m sure it will be immense’


After its unveiling on social media the tech tycoon’s Starship drew immediate comparisons to fictional rockets. One twitter user said: ‘I love SpaceX and their people are amazing but it does look like a Wallace and Gromit rocket but I’m sure it will be immense’ (pictured)


Atomic illustration of a man and woman riding a rocket in space from the 1940s bears a striking similarity to Musk’s 2019 rocket which he says will reach space later this year 


Musk may have been inspired by the 1950 film ‘Destination Moon’, where a group of actors discuss a model space rocket (pictured). The films surprisingly accurate prediction of space travel won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects

The latest images provide a clearer view of the two components previewed by Musk at the end of last month, showing engineers in cherry-pickers at work on the nose cone and another large piece of the system.  

A large American flag can be seen plastered on the side of one of the huge metal cylinders.

The progress comes as SpaceX ramps up work on the test hopper ahead of planned flights later this year


Musk says this spacecraft will perform suborbital flights and a taller version with ‘thicker skins’ will take passengers to Mars


The maverick billionaire entrepreneur continues to explore ways of one day sending people to places as far as Mars. he previously posted this mock-up image 


SpaceX’s prototype starship that is being called ‘test hopper’ stands at the Boca Chica Beach site, near Brownsville, Texas on January 2


The svelte 120-foot-tall Starship design is similar to that of 1950s sci-fi favourite Destination Moon

Starship – previously known as BFR, Big Falcon Rocket, or the Big F***ing Rocket – is key to Musk’s plans to send humans to Mars. 

Musk tweeted out the first  photo at the end of December, captioning it simply, ‘Stainless Steel Starship.’

In a series of tweets that followed, however, the CEO elaborated on the plans for the test vehicle.

The first crewed Red Planet mission for the rocket and 100-passenger Starship could come as early as the mid-2020s if development and testing go well, Musk has said 

WHAT IS ELON MUSK’S ‘BFR’?

The BFR (Big F***ing Rocket), now known as Starship, will complete all missions and is smaller than the ones Musk announced in 2016.

The SpaceX CEO said the rocket would take its first trip to the red planet in 2022, carrying only cargo, followed by a manned mission in 2024 and claimed other SpaceX’s products would be ‘cannibalised’ to pay for it.

The rocket would be partially reusable and capable of flight directly from Earth to Mars.

Once built, Musk believes the rocket could be used for travel on Earth – saying that passengers would be able to get anywhere in under an hour.



 This particular model will be used to test short launches and landings. Earlier this month, the billionaire said SpaceX was aiming to carry out test flights within four weeks


Elon Musk revealed his ‘hopper’ spaceship that could one day take man to the moon earlier this week and claims it could eventually take people to Mars

Just last month, the SpaceX boss doubled down on his earlier claims that he would likely be among the interplanetary travellers who make the trip to Mars, despite there being a ‘good chance’ that he’ll die there. 

Tickets on Elon Musk’s spaceship to Mars will cost around $200,000 per person.

SpaceX shared new details about the 387ft rocket in September, saying it hopes to begin unmanned launch tests of the spacecraft in late 2019.

In the future, Starship will be able to carry out lunar missions as well as long-distance flights to Mars and beyond.

The firm hopes to stage an uncrewed flight to Mars in 2022, then a manned flight in 2024.

In between those missions, SpaceX has planned for a private mission with a passenger on board in 2023.

‘We would like to put large cargo on the surface of the moon by 2022,’ SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said recently.

‘And we have our eyes on the prize to send people to Mars in 2024.’  

THE BILLIONAIRE SPACE RACE


Jeff Bezos in front of Blue Origin’s space capsule

Jeff Bezos’ space tourism project with Blue Origin is competing with a similar programme in development by Space X, the rocket firm founded and run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Virgin Galactic, backed by Richard Branson.

Bezos revealed in April 2017 that he finances Blue Origin with around $1 billion (£720 million) of Amazon stock each year.

The system consists of a pressurised crew capsule atop a reusable ‘New Shepard’ booster rocket. 

The richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos is pursuing Blue Origin with vigour as he tries to launch his ‘New Glenn’ rocket into low-Earth orbit by 2020.  

Whilst Bezos is yet to leave the atmosphere of Earth, despite several successful launches, Elon Musk’s SpaceX programme has already sent the Falcon Heavy rocket into space.

On February 6 2018, SpaceX sent the rocket towards the orbit of Mars, 140 million miles away. 

On board was a red Tesla roadster that belonged to Musk himself.


Elon Musk with his Dragon Crew capsule

SpaceX have won several multi-million dollar contracts from Nasa as the space agency hopes to use the rockets as a fast-track for its colonisation of the red planet. 

Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic recently successfully conducted a test flight of the Virgin Galactic’s Unity spaceplane.   

The flight accelerated to over 1,400 miles per hour (Mach 1.87).

Calling space ‘tantalisingly close’, Branson also said last year that suborbital space in test flights could be happening by this spring. 

More than 700 affluent customers to date, including celebrities Brad Pitt and Katy Perry, have reserved a $250,000 (£200,000) seat on one of Virgin’s space trips, 

The billionaire mogul also said he expects Elon Musk to win the race to Mars with his private rocket firm SpaceX. 


Richard Branson with the Virgin Galactic craft

SpaceShipTwo will carry six passengers and two pilots. Each passenger gets the same seating position with two large windows – one to the side and one overhead.

The space ship is 60ft long with a 90inch diameter cabin allowing maximum room for the astronauts to float in zero gravity.

A climb to 50,000ft before the rocket engine ignites. Passengers become ‘astronauts’ when they reach the Karman line, the boundary of Earth’s atmosphere, at which point SpaceShipTwo separates from its carrier aircraft, White Knight II.

The spaceship will then make a sub-orbital journey with approximately six minutes of weightlessness, with the entire flight lasting approximately 3.5 hours.  

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